


Bad Influence

by Romanwrites



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: ??? is a huge dick, Arthur is in a coma, Cannon dead character, Canon Divergence, I Tried, I really did, Kinda, More death!, More sadness!, Other, Poor dude, Post-Hellbent, What the hell is wrong with me!, any post hellbent fic could be considered cononly divergent I guess, exept at the parts where he's actually scary, he's like a mix of Bill cypher and the genie from aladin, i guess?, i mean kinda, i'll add tags as i go, idk - Freeform, oh yea ???'s name is Mphutsi, oh yea don't mind the random OC's I have in there, removed the major character death because, tbh I had a ton of fun writing ???, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-08-25 21:50:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16668958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romanwrites/pseuds/Romanwrites
Summary: In which the living are sad and confused, the dead are misled and conflictedand the demon...well we don't talk about it(aka, in which two friends suffer their own near-death experiences and are forced into a coma-like state, in which they are given a chance to right whatever went wrong for them, as well as save the person they can't help but care about)





	1. (pilot) In which two characters have a crisis and ??? is there to make everything worse

Lewis was on the ground, body quaking and breaths coming out in short strangled gasps.

Actually, no

That wasn’t what was happening. He wasn’t hyperventilating or shaking because he _couldn’t_ breathe. He _couldn't_ move. He was _dead._ He had _fallen_ to his _death._

How though? What had happened? He remembered looking out over the edge of a cliff, a cavern of sharp stalagmites at the bottom. He remembered that Arthur was there, following closely behind. He remembers Arthur calling out to him but, after that it was all a blur. Had Arthur caused this? No, he wouldn’t. Arthur wouldn’t hurt Lewis intentionally, rig-

“Whatcha’ thinkin about?”

Lewis’ ghostly form jumped. Who on earth-

“Hey, back here.”

Lewis turned around, suddenly alert. He turned around to the source of the mysterious voice.

The said source of the voice was… odd. The… whatever it was… almost resembled a small child, but it’s shape wasn’t solid. It resembled the green fog surrounding them both, whispy and flowing with the surrounding air. There were 2 large black circles in the center of its face highlighted with rings of a vibrant green, which he guessed were the creatures eyes. It looked at him, arms behind it’s back, an innocent (if not slightly creepy) smile on its face, a few pale green pointed teeth sticking out from its mouth.

“What the hell are-” Lewis started, confounded and confused.

“Who I am isn’t important.” the creature interrupted “I wanna speak with you.”

Lewis could only stare at the shapeless creature. He didn’t know what to say to it, so instead he said nothing, a confused look on his skeletal face.

All of a sudden, some of the fog twisted and morphed into a recliner and what looked to be a fainting couch.

“Sit down” the creature said, gesturing to the couch as it took a seat in the recliner.

Lewis still didn’t move, not trusting the creature. However, he didn’t have to move, as the seat suddenly appeared under him, and he was suddenly dragged forward along with it.

“So,” the creature said, a notepad and pen appearing in its hands “tell me about the circumstances of your death. You fell from that ledge, right?” The creature pointed to the edge of the cliff looming above the two with its pen.

Lewis blinked a few times before answering. “I mean, I guess. I don’t know how else it would’ve happened…”Lewis responded, still weary, “I was looking over the edge, and next thing I knew, I was down here.” The creature looked down onto its notepad, writing on it with its pen. Was… was it taking notes?

“Are you sure you only _fell?_ ” the creature asked.

Lewis paused. What did he mean by that? Was he implying something? “What do you-”

“Someone was there with you, right?” it interrupted, “Many someone's, actually. A not-dog, Mystery, Vivi, your lover, and your cowardly friend Arthur. Is that correct?

Lewis blinked rapidly. How did this thing know all of this?

“I’ve been watching you four, Einstein. I kinda live here.”

...oh.

“So anyway, you and Arthur were separated from the rest of your little clique, correct?” Before Lewis had a chance to respond, it continued. “I guess he took advantage of that. How unfortunate. It’s always quite sad when they die so young."

Lewis froze. He did not like what this creature was implying.

“I guess you don’t remember, also unfortunate.” The creature closed the notepad, and it turned into a puff of green smoke in its hands. The recliner and couch did the same, all disappearing into the already present fog.

“This is getting tedious.” The creature said, smile never wavering.

“Are you sure you were not _pushed?_ ” it said.

The creature tapped a finger on Lewis’ temple. He flinched.

“Here, let me refresh your memory real quick.”

Lewis blinked and all of a sudden he was looking over the edge of the cliff again, Arthur standing behind him. He turned around, and immediately, Arthur shoved him. His eyes were crazed, a murderous gleam in his smile. Lewis was falling again, his friend looking down at him.

Before he could think or process anything, he was back at the bottom, in the present.

The vision sent him stumbling back, nearly falling over.

“Does it make more sense now?” The creature said.

“What- what was-”

“That was a flashback, kiddo. That's what you forgot. Your orange friend killed you.”

Lewis froze again. He went through what he remembered. What he _saw._ They split up, and Arthur he…

He pushed him.

He _pushed_ him!

“Upsetting, isn't it?” The creature asked.

“Why-why would he-” Lewis started, still shell shocked.

The creature shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.” It said, a smile still on its face.

Lewis looked at the creature, and it stared back. He then looked back up to the ledge. Arthur (and probably Vivi and Mystery too) had left. They just left him there. Alone.

The creature sighed. “How sad,” it said, “a person does nothing but care for the ones he loves, and ends up left alone to rot.”

Lewis fell to his knees. This was all too much for him. What did he do to deserve this?

“Look Lewis,” the creature said, propping his elbow up on Lewis’ shoulder, “I wanna help you.”

Lewis stopped. “Help me with _what?_ ”

“Passing on, obviously” it responded. “Because of some… complications, you were unable to properly pass on. Hence why you're here now and not in the afterlife.”

“What _complications?”_ Lewis responded, his earlier sadness being replaced with irritance.

“Well for one-” the creature started “your best friend pushed you off a cliff.”

Lewis felt his chest tighten.

“And for two,” the creature continued “your poor girlfriend had to watch you die.”

Wait, wait, no...

_No, no, NO!_

“What I’m saying is-” it started.

Lewis turned to the specter sharply.

“There’s a hole in your heart,” the creature said “literally.”

The creature gestured to the hole in Lewis’ chest, and Lewis frowned deeply.

“But-“ the creature continued, putting its index finger in the center of the hole.

All of a sudden, the hole in Lewis’ chest began to close, until there was no longer any sign of it.

“I can fix that.”

Lewis stared at his chest in astonishment, eye sockets growing wide. His hand glided over his chest where the hole once was. How on earth had it-

Lewis looked back at the creature and noticed it was holding something in its whispy hands. Upon further inspection, he noticed that it was a golden heart that almost looked like it was made of glass.

“I believe this belongs to you” the creature said, handing the heart to him.

Lewis took the heart in his hands, and noticed a small line going around the edges of it. Curious, he tapped the edge of it, and it opened, revealing a picture inside that made Lewis’ metaphorical heart ache.

The photo was of him and Vivi, holding each other in their arms, looking so carelessly in love. It made Lewis want to cry.

The creature floated to Lewis’ side, looking at the opened heart from over Lewis’ shoulder. “Aww,” it said aloud, “how cute.”

“You miss her already, don’t you?” it said. Lewis nodded, rubbing at his eye sockets with his sleeve. Wait, how long had he been crying?

“I’m sure she misses you too.”

Lewis closed his eyes sadly, closing the heart as well. When he took his hands from it, it floated over to his chest, hovering over it slightly.

“Oh well would you look at that” the creature said.

After a few seconds it started beating, and Lewis was sure if he still had a heart, they would’ve synced up.

“Do you know what that heart means?” it said, gesturing to the heart in question. Lewis shook his head, still trying to process… well, everything.

“That’s your soul bud.” It said, rather casually. Lewis gaped (as much as he could in his skeletal form at least) and looked at the creature skeptically.

Almost as if to prove its point, it tapped on the glass heart, rather hard he may add. Lewis cringed slightly. It felt like someone had punched him in the chest.

Okay, so if something physically happened to his “soul”, it hurts him as well. Noted.

“So, if my diagnosis is correct,” the creature continued, the notepad from before reappearing in its hands, “you are suffering from a case of ‘I want to see my girlfriend again and kill the dude that killed me’-itis.”

…Wait,

What now?

The creature gave Lewis an annoyed look before he changed his tone and the notepad disappeared. “What I’m saying is, in order to pass on you have to see Vivi again and give poor old Arthur a little tit-for-tat treatment, bud."

Lewis froze. Tit-for-tat? Did that mean-

“Are you saying I’m gonna have to kill Arthur?”

The creature blinked. “Yeah, that’s _exactly_ what I’m saying. Don’t wanna stay here forever? Gonna have to kill him. Sorry.”

Lewis stared at the creature, blinking slowly. It made sense in his head, but, a part of him still questioned hurting someone who was once his friend.

Well…

Didn’t Arthur do the same to him?

“Think about it, big guy.” It said, “ _really_ think about it.”

“You wouldn’t have to ponder this in the first place if it weren’t for him.” It said, “he betrayed you, didn’t he? He made you think you could trust him, and took advantage of you. If it wasn’t for his selfishness, you wouldn’t be here. You’d be happily skipping along with your little lover, without a care in the world. You were so happy before, and he just had to go and ruin it.”

Lewis felt rage bubble up inside his chest.

The creature was right. He remembered. Arthur shoved him, very much intentionally. Would he have done it if someone else was watching?

No, he wouldn’t, would he?

They were alone, and Lewis was put in an oblivious, vulnerable situation. He remembered Arthurs smile. It was malevolent, twisted. It sent a chill down Lewis’ spine just thinking about it.

What Arthur did was _no_ accident.

Lewis failed to notice the heart now floating over his chest glow brightly, or the magenta flames forming on his skull and in the palms of his hands. He only stared at the floor of the cave, literally _fuming._

A low chuckle bounced across the cave walls as a grin appeared on the green creatures face.

“I mean, after all, the kid’s already got some issues up here” it said, pointing to his temple for emphasis.

“ ** _Might as well put him out of his misery_** ”

 

~~

 

Arthur was _horrified_ , to put it lightly. It was definitely a lot to take in at once.

One moment, he was staring into the eyes of his best friend, one he had been searching for for _months,_ and the next thing he knew he was falling _very quickly_ into a pit of sharp stalagmites on the cave floor.

He _tried_ to do something. He really did. He wanted to scream, to flail, to try and right himself, but he couldn’t. He just fell. Limp. He watched as ~~the ghost~~ Lewis watched him fall. He almost felt numb in a way. Complete and udder shock replacing his usual bone-chilling fear.

Before he knew it, he wasn’t falling anymore.

It hurt.

It hurt _a lot._

His eyes were closed tightly, tears streaming down his face. He didn’t have to open them to see that a sharp stalagmite has ripped right through his side like wet tissue paper.

The numbness from before was unfortunately entirely lost, replaced with nothing but _agony_. He let out a cry as he finally decided to open one of his eyes and look down at the cave floor. There was a steadily growing pool of blood underneath him, and in his peripherals he could see his metallic prosthetic arm, twitching and sparking slightly.

He began to sob. The only thing he could think of was _oh god, oh god oh god oh no I’m dead I’m gonna die I’m dying dying dying-_

“Hm”

A voice cut his sobs short. He looked around frantically, eyes darting from wall to wall, searching for the source of the voice.

All of a sudden, not 3 feet in front of him, the fog turned a sickly green. Soon, the fog came together and formed,

…a person?

“Huh, so you lived.” It said, voice annoyed.

Arthur gasped. He knew that voice. He knew it. He didn’t know from where, but he knew it. It made Arthur recoil (or at least as much as he could in his current state).

“w-who, what-” Arthur tried, but his voice was cut off by a fit of coughs making his whole body shake. He let out another sob. It hurt so much.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but that fall was supposed to kill you. Quickly. Guess things don’t turn out the way you plan em’, ey kid?” It said, tilting it’s whispy head from side to side as it spoke.

“Lewis-Lew he- _hgrk!_ “

“Yes he dropped you. I know kid” it said, patting Arthur on the head lightly “I watched him drop you. He wanted you dead y’know.”

Arthur froze. He looked at the being, glassy eyes wide. He wasn’t being truthful, right? Lewis would never hurt him, would he?

But then again,

He saw it himself.

He saw the hatred in his friends eyes…

“I said _wanted_ ” it said, as if reading Arthurs thoughts, “Almost immediately after he dropped you, he started freaking out.”

“That's the problem with you humans.” It continued. Before Arthur could react, the creature put its foot on Arthurs back, forcing him downwards onto the spike. Arthur bit back a scream of pain.

“Sooner or later, you will become, _sentimental._ ”

Arthur couldn’t help it. He started crying again. It hurt so bad and so many things were going on at once and he couldn’t he just co _uldn’t_ -

“ _P-please-_ “

“Don’t even bother beggin for mercy.” It said, smile gone “You’re too far gone. There’s no point in calling for help. It’s sad really, being killed like this. I know you two were oh so close. How unfortunate.”

Arthur put his head down and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want this. Not an hour ago, everything was normal, now here he was. He was going to die. It was too much. Far, far too much.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to talk to him soon.”

Arthur felt the pain in his side slowly subside. He felt his body go limp, a deep chuckle filling his ears. And then, everything fell dark.


	2. In which everyone is confused and no one is happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: I talk about dates briefly in this chapter, so for future reference, the story is taking place in mid to late 2014, because the original video came out in 2014. Does that make sense? No? Well, I'm rolling with it anyway.

Lewis floated down to the cavern below, eye sockets wide, shock running through his bones.

He just dropped ~~his best friend someone he trusted with his life someone who he betrayed-~~ Arthur into the pit of stalagmites. He felt… what _was_ he feeling? Gratitude? Satisfaction? That’s what he _should’ve_ felt. He _wanted_ to see Arthur dead…

Right?

He slowly but surely made it to the bottom of the cave, and what he saw made his heart ache.

Arthur was impaled on a spike, right through his side. Blood was dribbling from the corner of his mouth, which was twisted into a pained sneer. Blood was pooling around his waist and dripping onto the cave floor. There was so much blood... The sight made him feel sick to his stomach (if he had one, that is.)

He looked...

He looked... _dead_.

And for a pained second, Lewis was sure that he _was._ That he had hurdled ~~his freind~~ him to a presumably drawn out and painful demise. That was until he saw the slight twitching of Arthurs arm (his _only_ arm, Lewis realized with horror, seeing a metallic one strewn about just out of reach. How long had he not had an arm?).

He was _alive._ Unconscious and in extreme pain, but _alive._

…Why did that make him feel _relieved_?

Somehow, he didn’t notice the figure standing over Arthur at first. The mysterious creature, who Lewis found out was named Mphutsi, was standing over his bleeding and dying ~~friend~~ killer, expression one of calm glee. He looked over to Lewis, and gave him a slight smile.

“Are you gonna finish the job before Vivi comes barreling in here and tries to exorcise you, or are you just gonna stand there, Lew?”

Lewis cringed. “This… doesn’t feel right.” He said, “I don’t feel accomplished or …anything.”

Mph smiled, seemingly unperturbed by his reluctance. “How _do_ you feel then, Lewis?”

Lewis squeezed his eye sockets shut. “Wrong…” he finally said.

Mphutsi playfully huffed at him. “You aren’t getting soft on me, are you big guy?”

Lewis didn’t say a word, he only floated over to Mphutsi and Arthur, the former stepping away from the two humans.

“He’s all yours…” Mph said, giving Lewis a sly wink.

Lewis raised his fist that was now engulfed in magenta flames, and readied himself to bring it down onto his ~~freind best freind why was he doing this why what has he done-~~ killer.

He could’ve _sworn_ that he saw Arthur flinch away and cower ever so slightly, a pained whine escaping his throat. He sounded like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road.

He couldn’t do it.

Lewis raised his fist, and brought it down hard. Right onto the stalagmite piercing through his friend.

The stalagmite disappeared, debris flying into the air. Arthur fell to the ground with a thud. Lewis fell too, knees crashing into the ground.

“Why,” Mphutsi voice cutting through the silence “the hell did you do that?”

“I couldn’t-” Lewis tried, only then noticing the tears pooling in his eye sockets, “,he looked- he looked so scared and I couldn’t _I just couldn’t-_ “

“Tsk, tsk, tsk” Mph said, “how unfortunate.”

The next thing Lewis new, Mphutsi was grabbing Lewis’ already fragile anchor in one of its green hands. He felt himself getting drowsy, as if he was about to fall into a deep sleep, which all things considered, might be accurate.

His vision started going dark around the edges, and he could’ve sworn he heard the panicked shouts of someone nearby.

And then he disappeared.

~~

Arthur woke up with a start, chest heaving and eyes still damp. He opened his eyes, and immediately noticed a few things:

The pain in his side had subsided almost entirely, now nothing but a dull ache. He couldn’t see very well, the soft purple light from before having left, replaced with an eerie black.

He looked down at himself, seeing if he was in the same condition he was in seconds(?) before. He looked normal, there were no bloodstains or bandages or holes in his chest. His prosthetic was nowhere in sight, the only thing remaining of it being the port connected to what remained of his shoulder.

He sat up tiredly and looked around at his surroundings, only to realize, there _weren’t_ any surroundings.

Every place he looked was nothing but an inky black. He couldn’t see _anything._

Was… was this the afterlife?

Arthur stood upright quickly, suddenly panicking. As he stood up though, he saw something behind him. He turned his head quickly, only to see himself. Another Arthur.

The version of himself that he saw looked... awful to be blunt. Sickly. He was laying down on the nothingness that was the ground, eyes closed. There were dark, bruise like circles underneath his eyes, which looked a lot clearer in contrast to his pale, pasty skin. There were multiple wires hooked up to his remaining arm, as well as a breathing mask around his mouth and nose. Many bandages were wrapped around his chest and stomach, some of them being covered by what looked to be a hospital gown. It wasn’t until then that he noticed the soft nearby sound of steady beeping.

Oh.

So he _wasn’t_ dead.

But, if that was the case, then where _was_ he?

Arthur was no stranger to sleep paralysis or strange nightmares, and he could tell that this certainly wasn’t _either_ of those. This felt all too… real.

Arthur decided to try and walk around a little bit. He was afraid that if he thought about his current predicament too much, his head might just explode.

He held out his arms, er, arm, to see if there were any walls in the plane he was in. After not long, he found one and decided to follow it with his hand, trying to get a feel for… wherever the hell he was. After following the wall with his hand for what felt like forever, his hand passed over something uneven. It felt like…a doorframe? Curious, Arthur moved his hand over what he suspected to be a door, and sure enough, he found a knob.

Slowly but surely, he turned the knob, and the door swung open without warning. Arthur lost his balance, falling face first onto the darkened floor with a loud thud.

 _‘Goddammit,’_ he thought to himself as he held his head in his hands. ‘ _Alright so I can still feel pain in this weird realm, noted.’_

Arthurs thoughts were cut off by a soothing voice that he certainly didn’t recognize.

“You alright, dude?”

He tilted his head up cautiously, looking up at the source of the voice. He saw a young woman with long crimson hair and dark skin, holding her hand out to him. She was wearing a black and white puffy gothic-looking dress with a skull on it and a red belt. He took her hand slowly, pulling himself up.

“Thanks-“ he started, before stepping back in shock. When the woman tilted her head up, he was met with bright (glowing??) crimson eyes, with completely black sclera. It seemed familiar in all the wrong ways.

The woman seemed to notice his shock. “Oh, yeah my eyes look kinda weird, don’t they?” she said, pointing to them for emphasis, “yours don’t look much different, accept they’re orange.”

He blinked wildly at the woman.

“You just got here, didn’t you?” she said.

Uh… “…I guess?” he replied. He wasn’t really sure what she meant by ‘just got here’, but he could only assume he just arrived in this odd realm.

“I guess if that’s the case you probably have no idea what’s going on right now.” she said, Arthur nodding in response. She sighed slightly, “Okay so the place we are in right now is kinda like a fancy purgatory. People near death or dying are sent here for an opportunity to right whatever went wrong for them or their loved ones before they die, or find a way to survive and return to their world, etcetera etcetera.” She said. Before Arthur could respond or even process what she was saying, she continued.

“For example, I am in a comatose state right now after a building collapsed on me and a support beam falling on me broke my back. I was sent here so I could find a way to prove that the building collapse was the result of some asshole who didn’t like me or my coworkers rather than a freak accident, and get that dude his just deserves.” She said “does that make sense?”

Arthur blinked rapidly before stuttering out his answer. “So… I’m here t-to complete some unfinished business before I… d-die?”

The woman shrugged. “Depends. What happened before you came here? To you I mean. How did you nearly die?”

Arthur bit his lip as he recalled what had happened in the cave. “I was lured into this cave by this ghost guy, and he threw me off a cliff…”

The woman gave him an inquisitive look. “Anything else…?”

Arthur sighed, “Well, before the ghost dropped me, his skull went up in flames and it revealed the face of someone who was missing for months and who I had been looking for. I’m still not sure if that was actually him or not…”

The woman paused, “Well that is… interesting. My guess is that you returned to get to the bottom of that whole debacle.”

An awkward silence broke out between the two. The woman decided to break it.

“I noticed that you’re down a limb.” She said, gesturing to his arm, or lack thereof. “Did that happen when you were thrown or…?”

“Oh, no. This happened almost a year ago.” He responded, clinging to his shoulder, “A-animal attack.”

She gave a soft ‘hm’ in understanding before falling silent again.

“My name is Anastasia by the way. You?”

“O-oh uhm. Arthur.”

The woman, Anastasia, began trotting off in the opposite direction. “Well, Good luck with figuring out what the deal is with that ghost dude, Arthur” she said, waving.

“G-good luck to you too I guess” Arthur yelled back. Anastasia turned around and gave him a warm smile, before turning a corner and disappearing into the darkness.

 Arthur just stood there for a minute, letting everything sink in. For one, he was actually _dying_ right now, presumably in hospital, if the version of himself he saw earlier had anything to say about it. Two, he was in some sort of fucked up purgatory, keeping him there until he dies.

 Or… Anastasia _did_ say something about being able to return and live. Arthur hoped that he would figure out how to do that.

Arthur looked around at his surroundings again. It was still dark, but not as dark as it was in the room before. Maybe his eyes were adjusting. He could see the faint outline of a hallway lined with doors, including his own. Oh yeah, about that.

When Arthur turned around, he saw an engraving on a plaque in the wall next to the door he tumbled out of. The engraving read ‘Arthur G. Kingsmen 1992-????’ in bold golden letters. Glancing at the rest of the nearby doors, he noticed similar engravings with various different names and dates. He began to walk down the hall, looking at all of the different engravings. He read them silently, mindlessly walking down the hall.

‘Lily P. Aplas’ 2008-????’ in blue.

‘Theodosia M. Andrews 2003-????’ in violet.

‘Anastasia H. Flores 1990-???’ in crimson

‘Thomas Lovas 1996-???’ in white.

‘Aranea C. Bridgewaters 1975-????’ in pink.

‘Lewis Pepper 1992-2013’ in pur-

Wait

_Wait_

Arthur stopped dead in his tracks, heart skipping a beat or two. He reread it. Once. Twice. And to his avail, the letters never changed.

It read, ‘Lewis Pepper 1992-2013’ in purple lettering, splashed with a sickly green color.

Arthur felt his stomach turn. He looked at the dates. The two of them. Unlike all of the other plaques he read, _this one had a death date._

Not only that, but the death date itself troubled him to his core. 2013. A year ago. Not only had Lewis been _dead,_ but he had been dead for a _whole goddamn year._

Arthur knocked on the door a few times, rather frantically. _C’mon let me see him please. I just wanna see him again please please-_

The door swung open.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear every end of the chapter wont have a cliffhanger
> 
> Actually nvm I can't promise that


	3. In which a new player steps up to bat

Arthur wasn’t entirely sure _what_ he was expecting to be behind Lewis’ door, but it _certainly_ wasn’t the thick green fog that almost smothered him when he walked into the room.

“Lewis?” he called out as loud as he dared, “ _Lewis?!_ ”

Arthur made an attempt to trample through the fog in the room, looking for his friend.

Eventually, he found him.

Lewis was on his knees in the center of the room, eyes alert, looking up at Arthur. He looked just like the Lewis he knew, but with those same dark sclerad eyes, 2 glowing rings of bright magenta highlighting them. It made Arthurs heart ache with a mix of excitement and sorrow.

“ _A-Arthur_?”

Arthur had a sudden urge to throw his arms, er, arm, around his friend in a tight embrace. He was here! Lewis was _really here!_ Arthur _found him!_

Arthur took a step forward and moved to hug his friend, when Lewis spoke up again.

“Arthur wait-“ Lewis interjected, raising his arm up slightly, “you are- you-”

Arthur paused, giving his friend a concerned look. Lewis looked up at him sadly.

“Are y-you okay?”

The shorter man blinked at his friend. Why _wouldn’t_ he be okay? He was ecstatic!

 “A-at the cave I-“ Lewis tried, before biting his lip. Arthur lowered his head, reflexively grabbing at his arm, only to realize it wasn’t there. He recalled what had exactly put him here.

“So… that _was_ you?” Arthur said, lowering to his knees to be at Lewis’ level. Lewis gave him a confused glare, almost as if to ask _who else would it have been?_

Arthur had an urge to ask his friend _why._ Why had he dropped him? Why was he chasing him and Vivi? Why was he so _angry?_

But Arthur had another much more pressing question for him.

“Lew…” he said, voice hushed.

“How did you die?”

Arthur didn’t fail to notice Lewis violently flinch at the question, turning to him slowly. Lewis, above everything else, looked… conflicted. Utterly confused. At least that was one thing they had in common at the moment.

“Are you-“ he said, voice rising and becoming slightly more threatening “-kidding me?”

Arthur backed off a little bit. He saw the spirits temper, and he knew to stay within a 3 feet radius at the very least. Lewis seemed to notice this, so he relaxed slightly. Arthur tried to process what Lewis had said. Was Arthur _supposed_ to know that his friend had been dead all this time?

“I- “ Arthur stuttered, “I…didn’t even know you were dead until just now. When I read the plaque on your door…”

Lewis visibly tensed. He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it, instead choosing to stare at the floor. He opened his palms and looked at his hands, before putting them to his face in frustration.

“I am,” he said “, so confused.”

Arthur huffed playfully, “Me too, Lew.”

Arthur grabbed Lewis' arm, attempting to help him to his feet. Something stopped him though, something keeping his friends arm in place. Arthur looked down, and gasped.

There was an outline of a thick, metal shackle on Lewis’ wrist.

Arthurs eyes visibly widened. He noticed a similar shackle on Lewis’ other wrist, and one around his neck. Arthur put his remaining hand over his mouth, stumbling back in shock. He would’ve fallen over, if it wasn’t for the pale green arms that caught him.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” a snarky voice said.

When Arthur looked up, he was face to face with a green, misty creature. The same creature that chastised him in the cave, after Lewis dropped him…

_Oh no._

The blond let out a squeak of terror as the creature wrapped its hands around his neck, raising him a few feet in the air. Lewis let out a few cries of alarm as he watched his former best friend get strangled by the demonic creature.

“No! _Put him down **! Put Arthur down!!”**_ Lewis shouted, writhing against his chains.

The creature cackled, voice bouncing off of the walls of the dark room. “ _Wow! You want this kid alive? That’s new! And they say that real life character development doesn’t exist!_ ”

Arthurs legs flailed wildly, attempting to free himself of the creatures grasp. He attempted to fight back with his remaining arm, but it just phased right through the creature.

“Actually-“

A look of realization dawned upon the misty creature, and just like that, Arthur fell to the ground in a heap.

“-what am I doing? You’re no use to me if I kill you, on the off chance that you _don’t_ come back as an emotional spirit like your buddy did.”

His vision was slightly blurry around the edges and his throat hurt, but other than that he _seemed_ alright… Wait, could he even be _killed_ as a disembodied spirit?

“Lewis,” the creature interjected, standing behind the pyromantic specter, “why don’t you do us all a favor and finish what you started with Mr. Kingsmen here.”

Both of the human men flinched.

_Yup. Yup he could be killed. He was fucked._

Arthur watched in horror as the chains on Lewis’ neck and wrists’ become longer, and Lewis looked up to him, eyes apologetic.

All of a sudden, Lewis lunged at his friend, magenta flames springing from his palms. Arthur immediately dashed for the door, which he presumed was the only exit. He felt the wall for the door, the room still being dark and black as night, making him unable to see it. When he looked back at Lewis though, he was only a few inches in front of him, completely still. Upon further inspection, Arthur noticed that the extended chains were held taught. This was the closest that Lewis could get to him.

A cackle came from the other side of the room as the creature reeled the chains back, taking Lewis with them.

“I _just_ said that you were no use to me dead, kiddo! Man, you two are idiots! Did you really think I was gonna let him kill you _now?_ ”

Arthur looked at the creature horrifically, only now noticing that it had been gripping a dark blueish grey cracked and broken heart in its claws threateningly. He remembered seeing something similar… floating by Lewis’ own chest.

Lewis must’ve had a connection to the heart, and judging by the way the creature was holding it, and the suspiciously green chains…

The creature holds the glass heart near its own chest and breathes (?) deeply. As it does so, it almost seems to light up and slightly grow in size, a malicious grin appearing across its features

Arthur felt an urge of protection well up inside his chest. _The creature was holding Lewis prisoner here._

“Oi Kingsmen!” the creature yelled, “I think your mommies have come to pick you up from daycare. See you later~”

Arthur squinted at the creature, before being startled by the door behind him violently swinging open. Arthur shrieked as a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and yanked him backwards violently.

He fell back onto the darkened floor, head slamming against the hard surface. Black spots swam against his vision and his head hurt greatly from the impact, but he stayed conscious (could he even lose consciousness as a spirit?). He cracked open one of his eyes and saw two bustling figures standing near him. They looked like two vaguely human-shaped blobs of color, one standing at the door, and one kneeling near him. One shades of red, and the other shades of blue.

Wait…

“Vivi…? Anastasia?” he slurred out.

The two ladies in question turned their heads towards him, eyes showing concern. As Arthur blinked away the spots in his vision, he took in what they were doing. Anastasia was holding her hand out to the door, deep red vines wrapping around its frame. Meanwhile, Vivi was kneeled at his side, her hand on his remaining shoulder. Just like everyone else here, the whites of her eyes were black, irises a bright cyan.

“That should keep it in there for a while.” Anastasia said, leaving the door and sitting down next to the two friends.

“Okay now that that’s over with” Vivi said, “can someone _please_ explain why my best friend is here and presumably near death, and what in the _fresh hell_ is behind that door.”

Anastasia blinked at the two wearily before responding, “well, I’m not entirely sure.”

Vivi tilted her head at the woman.

“I’m not entirely sure what is behind that door” she repeated, “I was walking around and I heard a ruckus from behind the door, and saw green mist coming from beneath it. Needless to say, not the first time I saw something like that, and I knew it wasn’t good. That green mist is usually accompanied by some sort of inhuman poltergeist who _usually_ doesn’t mean well. It is also usually accompanied by a soul here suddenly dying.” Arthur flinched and gulped at the comment.

“And then next thing I knew,” She continued, “you came barging in looking for your friend.” Oh.

“And you still don’t know what it is?” Arthur said. Anastasia shrugged.

“What were you _doing_ in there, Art?” Vivi said, turning to her friend.

Arthur bit his lip. Vivi didn’t remember Lewis, only knowing that he existed, ~~died~~ went missing, and that Arthur was determined to find him. Some sort of odd amnesia that emerged on the same day that Arthur lost his arm and Lewis went missing.

He had so many unanswered questions. Too many.

“I had-“ Arthur started, “I recognized the name on the plaque. An old friend.”

Anastasia and Vivi both looked to the said plaque, which now had some smaller red vines bordering it. Vivi’s eyes brightened slightly with realization.

“Lewis?” Vivi tried, “The guy you were looking for?” Arthur nodded solemnly.

“Wait,” Anastasia started, rubbing her chin, “was this the same guy whose face you saw in the cave? The one who dropped you?”

“Uhm… y-yea.” Arthur started. He was cut off by Vivi asking him in a stern voice,

“What _cave_? Arthur, what happened to you while I was trying to fend off a pissed off yokai?”

“ _What??_ ” Arthur responded, raising his voice in a mix of concern and confusion.

“Welp-“ Anastasia said, rising to her feet, “you two seem to have some personal things to work out that is none of my business.” She started to walk in the opposite direction, before speaking again, “if those vines wear out, try and find me in this maze of a place and let me know. Probably wouldn’t want whatever is in there to escape.” She disappeared around a corner, just as she did before.

There was a moments silence between the two that remained, until it was broken by Arthur.

“So,” he said “what was this about a yokai?”

Vivi turned to her friend. “Oh, there was this weird scary tree lady that tried to cut Mystery in half so I was like ‘ _not today fucker!_ ’ and then she uhh kinda stabbed me”

“ ** _whAT???_** ”

“Hey, at least I lived! Calm your tits!”

Vivi crossed her arms and pouted like a young child who was just deprived of candy. Eventually, she spoke again, still avoiding eye contact. “So, you gonna tell me what happened to you or what? Something about a cave?”

“O-oh” he responded, rubbing the back of his neck with his remaining hand, “Viv, do you remember the ghost dude from the mansion? The one with the fancy suit and pink hair? The one you said was ‘low-key hot’?”

Vivi gave him an embarrassed look, “Yeah? Did he do this to you?”

He gulped, “You could say that…”

Vivi stared at her friend, “Arthur, what did he do?”

Arthur giggled uncomfortably. “He uhh” he started, in a soft voice, “dropped me off a cliff… in a cave… got me shishkabobed by a stalagmite…“

Vivi gaped at the younger man. “And you… _lived??_ ”

“Apparently???” he shouted.

Vivi leaned back and covered her face in exasperation, “Seriously, what is that dudes problem?”

 Arthur tilted his head in confusion.

“The pink ghost!” she said “sure he’s cool and his little ghost minions are pretty cute, but he tried to kill you _twice!_ And nearly actually killed you! What’s his damage? Why does he hate you so much?”

Arthur turned his head toward the door. The wine red vines wrapped around it were pulsating slightly, the green mist still seeping from the bottom of the black door.

“Yeah… I wonder why”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this chapter is kind of a mess. Sorry about that. I've been going through some minor writers block but I felt like I had to finish this chapter since it had been sitting in a word doc on my computer for over a week. Might try to clean this up later.


	4. In which there is a breif POV change and the bois are concerned

Lance did not like hospitals. The dreariness and the overall tension it caused him was… less than pleasant. It wasn't as much the hospital itself then it was the reason why he had to be there that caused the discomfort. You always go to hospitals either when you yourself had been hurt, which wasn't often the case for him, or when a loved one had.

The ladder was the case for him right now. Arthur, his own nephew that he had loved like a son, as well as Arthurs friend since childhood, were hurt. Badly.

It certainly wasn't the first time he had been in a situation like this. He recalls having to accompany his frantic younger brother and/or sister in law when Arthur had fallen off the swings or the monkey bars as a child and broken something. That happened a lot, kid was so accident prone...

Not a year ago, Arthur had had his arm ripped clean off in some sort of crazed animal attack. Lance made sure to keep a close eye on his nephew after that incident in particular.

It was certainly a horrific experience for the both of them, but this one was different. This one was worse. Far worse.

A lot of things had happened in the past few hours. From Arthurs van crashing hard into the side of Kingsmen Mechanics, to seeing some sort of tree woman duking it out with a red eyed fox demon, to finding Arthur in the back of a truck with a large hole in his side, as well as Vivi with a stab wound in her stomach.

After a painfully long and silent drive to the nearest emergency room, Lance finally had time to process everything that had happened, and that is where he was now, pacing the waiting room at an attempt to make sense of what he had witnessed. Both Arthur and Vivi had been carted off to urgent care, and Lance was anxiously waiting for any sort of update. It seemed like hours before he got one, and all things considered, it probably had been hours.

“Mr. Kingsmen?” a nurse said, walking into the waiting room. Lance shot up from his seat and nodded briskly. “You’re here for Vivian and Arthur, correct?” she said, to which he nodded again.

The nurse looked at a clipboard in her hands and made an attempt to explain. “Vivian is going to be alright with time.” she said, “No major organs or arteries were damaged, thankfully. She's going to need stitches and a blood transfusion, and she has a concussion, but we’ve stabilized her, and hopefully, she'll be ready for visitors in a day or two.”

Lance let out a breath of relief, but he couldn't be entirely at rest yet. “...And Arthur?” he said, voice low.

The nurse bit her lip slightly, looking back down at the papers in front of her. “Frankly,” she said, “your nephew is very lucky. Whatever caused the hole in his abdomen thankfully didn't damage any major organs, but he lost a lot of blood, and a few broken ribs have punctured one of his lungs. He actually flatlined a few times…” Lance inhaled sharply. “But-” she continued, “,we were able to regulate his heartbeat and he is currently on life support. He seems to be in a coma-like state, and we are unsure when he will wake up, but we are doing our best to save him. He’s going to be alright, eventually.”

Lance bit down on his lip hard enough it almost started to bleed. Frankly, he should have been glad that they were even alive, especially Arthur, but he just couldn't. These kids, his kids, were hurt bad. Neither of them had the strength to even wake up, and probably wouldn't for… god knows how long. Lance tried his hardest to focus on the positives. Arthur was on life support and was hopefully improving, and Vivi was already mostly stable. They were gonna be okay.

“T-thank you.” Lance finally said to the nurse, exhaling a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

The nurse nodded and wordlessly left through the door she came through. Lance decided to leave too. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stare at the white walls surrounding him. Not to mention, the Yukinos were probably gonna arrive at the hospital soon. He wouldn't want to interfere.

He made his way back to his truck outside, and was promptly caught off guard by a voice next to him.

“So, are they okay?”

Oh, right. Mystery. Lance forgot he had let the dog tag along. He had also forgotten that the dog could talk.

He cleared his throat, “Artie’s on life support right now, and Vivis gonna need stitches n’ stuff like that, but she's stable.”

Mystery paused, avoiding eye contact, “So, in other words, Vivis mostly okay, and Arthur… isn't?” he said, and judging by the look on his face, he immediately regretted it.

“God, please don't say that.” he responded, covering his face with his arm.

“I- I apologise, I didn't mean it like that… I'm sure Arthur will be okay.” Mystery said apologetically. 

Lance shot him a warning glance, before hiding himself again. Lance knew that in any other situation, he would be angry or shouting, but he just couldn't force himself to do so right now. He didn't seem to have the energy to.

The dog whined slightly, lowering his head, ears pressed flat against his head. “Are you okay Lance?” he asked.

Lance thought for a few seconds. Was he okay? “...not sure.” Lance replied, still avoiding eye contact with the pup. He leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. “God,” he said, “it's like he lost his arm all over again. I promised myself, and I promised him that I wouldn't let s’mthing like that happen to him again. And now here we are… and I let his friend get hurt too.”

Lance failed to notice Mystery flinch at the mention of Arthurs arm. He turned his head to the mechanic, attempting to console him. “Don't be so hard on yourself.” he said, “You’re not the one who drove us off the road.”

Wait

“Drove off the road?”

Mystery flinched a bit. He probably didn't mean to say that. “Oh… well. Long story short, a malevolent spirit was chasing us, and Arthur accidentally swerved off the road in his panic. It probably didn't help that Arthur was sleep deprived, and the uhm… tree lady on the hood of the car.” he said, rubbing at his scratched cheek with one of his paws.

Lance sighed. Why wasn't he surprised? Arthur and Vivi, as well as Mystery, had to deal with creepy crawlies and demons all the time, and one or two following the trio home wasn't a new experience. Arthur being sleep deprived wasn't new either. Since Lewis’ sudden disappearance, the kid had been fighting tooth and nail at an attempt to find him.

Lance found himself wondering what ever happened to the guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this chapter is a lot shorter than the past three, but again I really just wanted to get this out of the way because I've been working on it for too long. Will probably go back and clean this up later


	5. In which characters make plans

Lewis looked on in shock and confusion as he watched Arthur get violently pulled from the room, the black door slamming shut behind him. 

“Well that was fun” Mph said, a smug grin on its face. 

Lewis heard voices from behind the door. One he recognized as Arthurs, and another being a females, peppy and slightly annoyed. 

… 

_Vivi?_

“Huh,” Mphutsi said, “wonder what's going on, wanna take a look?” 

Before Lewis could protest, the chains around his neck and wrists were forcefully pulling him twords the still closed door. 

With a snap of Mphs fingers, the walls and door seemed to disappear. Behind them were Arthur and, of course, Vivi. 

_Why was she here?_

“The door and walls are still there, by the way. And they _are_ mostly soundproof, at least to them, so don't get any ideas.” it said, tapping Lewis’ anchor threateningly.

Lewis made an attempt to listen in on the two still (mostly) livings conversation. 

The sounds of their voices were slightly muffled, almost like they were underwater, but he could definitely hear them. Vivi seemed to be angrily raving about... some sort of pink ghost who tried to kill Arthur? 

Oh… right.

“-sure he’s cool and his little ghost minions are pretty cute, but he tried to kill you _twice!_ And nearly actually killed you! What’s his damage? Why does he hate you so much?” she said. 

Arthur looked towards the door and, unbeknownst to him, looked Lewis straight in the eyes. 

“Yeah… I wonder why”

Lewis felt his metaphorical heart clench. Arthur sounded so… sad. Betrayed even. Genuinely confused. 

Between that and him asking why Lewis was dead… 

_God, did Arthur even remember?_

Lewis’ thoughts were interrupted when the younger man put his head in his hands and whimpered slightly. 

“Dammit-” he said, voice low and throat audibly tight. 

“Art?” 

“God- he’s _dead_ Viv. He’s _been_ dead for a while, and I’ve still been looking tirelessly like a _fucking idiot._ ” he said, glaring at the door softly, bright orange tears welling in his eyes.

“Arthur-” Vivi said, before pausing. She bit her lip and put her hand on Arthurs remaining shoulder. “You're talking about your friend, right? Lewis, was it? He’s...dead?” 

Arthur didn't properly answer, just hung his head slightly lower and rubbed at his eyes. Vivi quickly enveloped him in a soft comforting hug. 

“I'm sorry, Art…” 

Lewis stared at the two, eyes wide. 

_'looking tirelessly’_

_‘Lewis, was it?’_

_‘How did you die?’_

_They didn't remember. Neither of them did._

Arthur didn't remember killing Lewis in cold blood.

Vivi didn't remember Lewis, _period._

And _neither_ of them knew he was dead.

Lewis felt like crumbling. That _couldn't_ be the case, could it? They were fucking with him, or Mphutsi was fucking with him. Wouldn't have been the first time. 

“This isn't some dumb illusion, Lewis. Why would I _ever_ lie to you?” Mph said. The damn thing could read your mind like an open book. Lewis always forgets that. 

Lewis looked at Mph angrily. “I don't recall _this”_ he said, gesturing to the chains around his neck and wrists, “being part of our agreement.” 

“I never said something like this _wouldn't_ happen.” It responded. Lewis sneered at its smug grin, revealing its sharp pale green teeth.

“Fine,” he responded, “can you at _least_ tell me why no one remembers anything?”

The creature huffed gleefully, “I _can_ actually! So, since Vivi witnessed your death and all, we had to erase her memory of that right? To avoid trauma and all that fun stuff.”

Lewis didn’t like where this was going, “Mph, what did you do?”

It laughed, almost nervously, “Well, I might’ve goofed the spell and I erased her memory of you… completely. Whoops.”

“ _You did what?!”_

“Hey-hey, calm down! It wasn’t intentional! And it’s not permanent or anything.”

Lewis paused, then looked to Vivi, who was still holding Arthur in her small, strong arms. 

“...How do we fix it?”

“Well it’s a little complicated. Actually retrieving her memory should be easy, I could snap my fingers and she remembers you just like that, but it's the side effects of retrieving it that are just a _scootch_ problematic.”

“Problematic?”

“Well, all of those memories suddenly flooding back to the surface could have some potential physical backlash.” It said, “Also, it's not exactly possible to give back all of her memories _minus_ seeing the love of her life get horribly murdered. It’s either give back everything, or nothing. Do you _really_ want that?”

Lewis bit his lip. He imagined Vivi kneeling by a slab on rock with his name on it, body wracked with sobs, being consoled by his Mama and Papa and his hermanitas… 

He felt himself starting to choke up. 

“I’ll take that as a no.” it said, “You love her too much.” 

Lewis lowered his head as hairline fractures appeared across his fragile anchor. 

He stared back up at Vivi and Arthur through the transparent walls. They were no longer holding each other, both on their knees, Arthur furiously wiping at his amber colored eyes, Vivis hand on his shoulder. He remembered how close the two had been, and probably still were. The two had been friends since long before Lewis even met either of them. He could only imagine, taking Vivi away from her best friend… 

He tried not to think about it, lest he drown himself in regret again. All of his anger had been long since gone, replaced with a confused concern and befuddlement.

“What about Artie-” Lewis tried, before hesitating, “... Arthur? 

“Hm?” 

“Does _he_ at least remember what he did to me?” 

Mph paused, “Not really. He seems to remember _some_ things about the cave, but I don’t think he remembers anything more then bits and pieces. Can’t be sure though.”

“...Does he remember killing me?” 

Mphutsi gave him an annoyed look, “What do _you_ think?” 

Lewis sighed, feeling the pit in his stomach grow, almost weighing him down. 

“Why? Why doesn’t he? _Did you fuck with his memory too?_ ” 

“Not _necessarily_.” it said, shrugging, “Repressed memories would be my guess. It’s weird how the human brain tries to block out traumatic experiences like that. You humans are just weird.” 

Lewis bit his lip, pity running off his words, “He’s repressing pushing me I assume?” 

“Hmm… possibly. But again, I can’t be sure. My guess is that he’s repressing losing his arm. I'd only assume that that's pretty traumatic.”

Lewis fixated his eyes on his friend, staring at the metal port connected to his shoulder. It was hardly visible, mostly covered by his still rolled up white sleeves, but still certainly there. He found himself wondering how he lost his real arm.

He also found himself wondering if it was better that he _didn’t_ know.

“Yeah that's what I presumed. Let's continue on with the play, shall we? Looks like Arthur’s calmed down a wee bit.”

Lewis didn't like the sudden subject change, it made him suspicious, but he knew he wouldn't get anywhere by asking more questions. He was on thin ice anyways. 

“So, do you have a plan?” Vivis voice came from the other side of the wall.

Arthur and Vivi had moved, and were now standing up in front of the door in close proximity to each other. It wasn't until then did Lewis notice how disheveled the pair looked. They both looked stressed, noticeable dwindling concern painted on their faces. Arthur was the worse of the two of them, dark circles under his glassy black and golden eyes and tear tracks on his freckled cheeks. It looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. God, how did Lewis never notice this before? 

Well, getting murdered kinda clouds your judgement a bit, doesn't it?

“What do you mean?” Arthur said, looking to her.

“You said you wanted to get your friend back, right? Do you have a _plan_ to do so? The doors been blocked off so we can’t just _waltz_ in there. Not to mention the weird demon dude that that weird lady told us about.”

“Oh, they’re talking about me!” Mph interjected, clapping excitedly like a young child. Lewis gave him a concerned and slightly soured look.

“Are you sure that we can’t get in there? Maybe it’s a one way thing.” Arthur said, voice slightly scratchy, presumably from crying. Desperation oozed from his words.

Arthur seemed to hold his hand out and grab something, something that Lewis couldn’t see, tugging hard, digging his heels into the floor.

“Damn it” he said, letting go of the unseen object.

“Guess we’re gonna have to find another way inside” Vivi said, reaching out and jiggling something, probably the doorknob, in her left hand.

“Are you sure we can't just-” Arthur said, before reeling back and slamming his side into the door. The doorframe shook and almost came off its hinges, but whatever was blocking off the door held good. Arthur backed off, swearing under his breath and hissing in pain 

If Lewis wasn't chained down, he would've facepalmed.

“Yea, I'm sure.” Vivi said, pinching the bridge of her nose, “is your arm okay?” 

“Yeah, I think so”

“Okay good, no one wants you down another arm right now.”

“Gee thanks Vivs.”

“Anytime.”

With that, the walls reappeared, back to the inky black they had been before.

“So,” Mph cut in, “kid wants you back. Wants back the friend that _very much so intended to_ kill him. It's quite telling, isn't i-”

“ ** _Shut. up._** ”

Mph backed away at the sight of the magenta flames that sprung from Lewis’ tightly balled fists. It sighed, snapping its fingers, causing the sparks to quickly cease. Lewis groaned.

“So, we're locked in here, apparently. Probably that 'Anna’ lady with her plant magic.” Almost as if on cue, the door bent at the edges, and wine red vines creeped from the edges of its frame. ”Yup. Called it.”

Lewis stared as Mphutsi floated over to the door, holding its hand out to it, touching it lightly. Immediately, similar red vines started to wrap around Mphutsis thin, foggy wrist; not unlike the shackles that held him inside the room. Mph recoiled, violently pulling his arm from the door, the red vines around his wrist dissipating.

“Welp” it said, “not leaving through _there_ anytime soon.”

Great. Lewis was even _more_ trapped then he already was. Trapped with the one who _imprisoned_ him, no less. No one came in, no one left.

 _At least that meant no Vivi or Arthur to be forced to off for good_ , he guessed.

He was gonna be there for a while, wasn't he?

 

~~

 

Arthurs mood went from utter shock and grief, to a frustrated determination. 

It was one thing to learn that on of your closest childhood friends had died a year prior when you thought he was just missing.

Finding out that that friend had come back as a pissed off ghost and attempted to horrifically murder you (and almost succeeded too), and was later trapped behind a door by some sort of oddly familiar green demon dude is a whole other thing _entirely_.

Arthur still found himself racking his brain at an attempt to fill all of the holes in… whatever the hell was happening. Saying it was a lot to process at once was a huge understatement.

Vivi walked around, Arthur following close behind her. They were looking for another way to get into Lewis’ room other than the currently blocked off door 

“You alright, Art? You’re being really quiet.” Vivi chimed in, turning her head towards her friend.

“Uhm” Arthur said, pursing his lips tightly. _Was_ he okay? Overall, he would say no, he wasn't, but he couldn't tell Vivi that. “I’ve just been… thinking a lot.”

Vivi stopped in her tracks, looking her friend up and down. Arthur tensed. He knew that he couldn't lie to her. He knew that she could see right through him.

“...'kay”

Arthur exhaled a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Good, she was putting it off for now. He would rather not talk right now. Vivi wouldn't understand. _How_ could he even explain if he himself didn't even understand?

As they walked, they passed a few more spirits. One a young girl, 6 at the most, with long dark brown hair wearing a pale robins egg blue all over. Another a teen boy with pale skin and bleach blonde hair wearing white all over. Another had deep magenta hair and a pale pink nightgown on.

“Uhh- Miss?” Vivi said, reaching out to the pink-coated woman, who promptly turned to the pair. “Uhm, do you know if there is a way to get inside the rooms other than the actual doors?” At the womans confused look, she added, “Don’t ask”

The woman rubbed her chin. “I mean, I guess you could go to a room directly behind it, and phase through it, if that makes sense.”

“It does! Thank you Ma’am!” Vivi said. She proceeded to grab Arthurs wrist and drag him away behind a corner.

Before he was able to process, Vivi had come to a sudden stop in front of another door. “I think this is the one parallel to- oh” she said. “Well, that’s quite convenient”

Arthur turned and read the plaque next to the door.

‘Vivian Yukino 1990-????’ in cyan

Arthurs heart clenched. Even though he knew very well that Vivi was in this purgatory too (She was standing _right next to him_ for gods sake!) but the reminder still made his heart ache. He never wanted to see his friends hurt, and the thought of having one dead, and the other near death…

Arthur shook his head as Vivi opened her own door, stepping inside. Arthur followed closely behind, rubbing at his side furiously. Arthur had gotten used to rubbing at and fiddling with his arm prosthetic when he was antsy or nervous, but he _had_ no prosthetic to fiddle with right now, so he went for fiddling with the hem lining of his t-shirt instead.

Vivi took one step into her room, and stopped dead in her tracks. “Shit-“ she said, “I… forgot that was there.” Arthur stared, confused. He looked over her head,(it wasn’t hard, the girl was quite a bit shorter than her) and gasped slightly. Another Vivi was laying in the middle of the room, a hospital gown on, equipment hooked up to her, and a thick gauze wrapped around her middle.

In all honesty, he shouldn’t have been surprised by it. He saw something very similar with himself in his own room; it was only fair to assume that that was consistent throughout most of the rooms. He was shocked anyways.

“Uhm” Vivi said, “Let’s just, ignore that, shall we?”

“Yeah let’s do that.”

Vivi stepped further into the room, hugging the wall and doing well to avoid looking at her deathly looking self. Arthur did the same, one shaky hand blocking his vision from it. They eventually made their way to the far wall of the room.

Arthur held out his hand to the wall gingerly, cautiously. “That lady said that we could just- phase right through it, righ-“

He was cut off as something akin to a wisp of green smoke grabbed his ankle and pulled him forwards. He fell backwards with a thud, Vivi shrieking next to him. He made a feeble attempt to claw at the floor in an attempt to get away, but the smooth ebony floor didn’t do him any favors.

He shrieked in shock as he was tugged through the wall into his friends room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the slight hiatus guys ^^; A mix of school and stress and lack of motivation have caused this chapter to take almost two weeks to finish this (I finished this at around 2 am last night/this morning so)
> 
> (also happy holidays)


End file.
